70-284 Starting out

Discussion in 'Exchange Exams' started by zimbo, Apr 2, 2007.

  1. zimbo
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    zimbo Petabyte Poster

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    So i have decided to take a big dive and learn Exchange and eventually take the 70-284 exam. Im going to need plenty of help and guidance on this one for several reasons - the main one being i have never used or seen Exchange in action before so im like starting from ground 0! Now is this crazy and am i kidding myself or can it be done? I will only start my learning when i get back home in the summer... i wont be studying full time cause ill more likely have a job in the summer doing "something" but i have until end of Sept so a good 5 months to learn and study.

    The next question is how do i start? What should i know before starting?
     
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  2. Sparky
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    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    It looks quite difficult from the objectives. :blink

    Lab wise probably best to go for a DC, and a Exchange server so you can at least get used to Exchange system manager.
     
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  3. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Sure, it *can* be done... but it won't be easy if you've never seen Exchange in a live environment before. That said, you have to start somewhere, so if you can't get some real world experience on it, get it set up at home and play with it. As expected, the Action Pack or TechNet Direct will help with your software needs.

    I know Will Schmied personally... I'd recommend his books in a heartbeat.
     
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  4. zimbo
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    zimbo Petabyte Poster

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    Im hoping to use VMware again so i can have a few servers running...
     
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  5. zimbo
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    zimbo Petabyte Poster

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    Im assuming you talking of 284's book.. i dont want to jump straight into exam yet.. otherwise ill learn very little.. what else can you reccommend?
     
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  6. Boycie
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    Boycie Senior Beer Tester

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    I am "Action Packed up" (have been for a year now), and swopping ISP's in June so I can run Exchange from home.

    I feel for the price of a domain name and putting AV on the domain (amongst other things) it is a cheap way of learning Exchange.
     
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  7. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Dunno... I learned it on the job. I'd probably recommend the Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Administrator's Companion by MSPress, I guess... :)
     
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  8. Boycie
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    Boycie Senior Beer Tester

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    Mike,

    This one?
     
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  9. zimbo
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    zimbo Petabyte Poster

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    I was lucky picked that off ebay for next to nothing... so for my lab enviroment? will i need to register a domain name to do it properly or can i get along without actually going as far as having to send and receive email from outside my lab?

    edit: sorry i got the Exchange Server 2003 Resource Kit
     
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  10. Sparky
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    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    You don’t have to but it can help.

    If you register a domain point the MX record at your static I.P. Forward port 25 on the firewall to your Exchange server and make sure the recipient policy is configured to accept mail for that particular domain.

    Use DNS to resolve domains on your SMTP connector and away you go.

    End of Exchange Server lesson 1...... :biggrin :biggrin
     
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  11. zimbo
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    zimbo Petabyte Poster

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    its darn expensive to get one in cyprus and too much paperwork.. and on this side im in res so will i run into problems now?
     
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  12. Sparky
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    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    You could go for a global POP3 mailbox. Basically all of your email goes to one mailbox and then you configure a POP3 connector to pull mail down from the ISP and then Exchange routes it. Outbound email can go through DNS or a smarthost which you can put in the SMTP connector. I know demon offer this service.

    I’ve configured Exchange this way when a static IP is not available or if there is no broadband. 8)
     
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  13. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    That's the one.
     
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  14. zimbo
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    zimbo Petabyte Poster

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    are you talking about the email addy an ISP gives you like [email protected]

    and does anyone else know of any other good books out there? Ones starting me from real basics please...
     
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  15. Bluerinse
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    Bluerinse Exabyte Poster

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    Sounds like a good thing to get into Zimbo but it's not going to be easy to get you head around. Sparky has already given you the basics of setting it up, you really *need* to install it and start playing with it ideally before you start to read any books. Most of the documentation i have seen on the interweb doesn't cater for newbies to exchange - so if you find something good, let me know!

    If your ISP provides you with a dynamic IP addy, you can use the POP3 connector which is built into SBS's version of exchange 2003 to pull emails from any email hoster you like (this is how i do it btw at home) mine pulls from about 5 different email domains including my ISPs but i am not sure if that connector is available in the stand alone version of exchange, if not you can probably download it.

    As Sparky said if you don't have a static IP then you can't really use exchange properly, as you need mail records set up on Internet DNS servers which have MX records pointing at your static IP - hence to get around this with a dynamic IP you can send email by configuring the SMTP connector in exchange to send to a smarthost, which basically means you have to put your ISPs SMTP server into the connector and all emails sent from exchange will go via your ISPs mail servers. Assuming they will allow it.

    Good luck!
     
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  16. zimbo
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    zimbo Petabyte Poster

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    so without a static IP im pretty much stuffed then? cant i just send dummy emails then from within my network instead of sending them outside? I dont want to make this something to prevent me from pursuing this.
     
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  17. Bluerinse
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    Bluerinse Exabyte Poster

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    one to one psychiatric counselling given via MSN :biggrin
     
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  18. simongrahamuk
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    simongrahamuk Hmmmmmmm?

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    George, slightly off topic but I'm curious why you don't reconsider the 70-282 SBS exam?

    This will allow you to cover the basics of exchange and allow you to get a feel for it before moving onto the stand alone product.

    Just my thoughts. 8)
     
  19. Boycie
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    Boycie Senior Beer Tester

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    Zimbo,

    As far as I know, 2003 does not support a POP connector (SBS does); i believe there is a 3rd party tool for this.

    As for running Exchange on a dynamic IP, I am led to believe you will run in to problems if you want to use it for delivering mail outside your network.
    A static means someone is responsible (at all times) for that IP, compared to a dynamic which different people will be using it and hasn't got the same level of trust. I don't think there is something in the IP packet itself informing that it is dynamic, but there is database which lists them.

    As for Training, I subscribed to the free video's from Trainsignal (Exchange, TCP and CCNA) and believe they will take you all the way through installing, configuring and administering Exchange;

    http://www.trainsignal.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=22

    Let us know how you get on, this is something I am waiting to learn about also.

    Si
     
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  20. zimbo
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    zimbo Petabyte Poster

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    Good point - didnt think of 282 in that way..

    Alright so lets say i wont be delivering email outside my network - do i really need to be deliverying email outside for the purpose of studying for 284?
     
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